Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-12
DREAMY TALLAHASSEE.
FOX HUNTS, MlD-FEBRUARY PicNicS
AND DELICIOUS LEMONADE.
What Visitors from the lee Bound North
Find to Amuse and Interest Them In
the Picturesque Florida CApital-Ths
Restless People.

Find to Amuse and Interest Them In
tho Picturesque Florida Capital-Ths
Restless People.
We sit about here in Tallahassee on the
wide galleries OF the hotel little listleasly.
glass of lemonade made with the delightful
addition Of a sour orange, here and there
half opened book, or slowly moving fan &C
centuate the dolce far niente existence. The
younger, more energetic Of the party are Oh
on a fox hunt, and we hear the sound Of
horns in the distance. Fans and novels are
forgotten. We lean over the balcony rail-
ings, our eyes riveted on the brow Of the hill
near by. Suddenly the cavalcade sweeps
over it toward US.
A pretty sight. Twenty-four riders, nine
teen hounds moving in procession toward rs
to the glad music Of horns and laughter. 4
dozen voices take up the tale, In which such
thrilling expressions as ~hard riding "cross
country bitches" @fences, "at last we saw
the fox are distinguishable-for we do not
hunt anise seed in Florida, be it understood,
but live, shrewd, sharp nosed foxes Then
the party rides off to take position under tbs
great oaks for photograph, and we return
20 our fans. A vision OF you poor unfor-
tunates, rubbing your noses and ears, and
covering over open registers, rises TO our
pitying minds as we languidly sip our lemon
ade.
But the fox hunt deserves more than this
cursory mention-or the fox hunts-for sport
is one of the pleasures in life that bears repe-
tition. The other day one Of the little red
victims was freed by the dogs, and it was
sight not to be forgotten. 1t was in grove
of live oak, and my knowledge Of the country
and desire for artistic accessories induces me
to add few glossy leaved magnolia trees to
the scene to give local color. Light and
shadow fell through the leaves on the bays
and roans and sorrels, and on the pretty faces
and brfgandesque hats. You can feel 1t II
you cannot see it. At the least, you can hear
it, can't youi Painting horses. baying hounds,
| laughing voices, the horn, an undertone Of
breeze in the tree tops, and overhead the
| plucky, wide eyed red fox waiting for his
death.
Tolcome back to things absolutely practi-
| cal, however, here is recipe for the epicure;
| the real lemonade of Florida and Of the
| future is made as follows: Cracked ice, syrup
| Of sugar, one pint Of apollinaris, two lemons,
| one-half sweet orange, one-half sour orange
| To be drank always in the open air with the
| thermometer at SO deg. in he shade.
| Here am back where started, with the
| thermometer at 50 deg, and this letter only
| Just begun, for of course must tell you about
! the celebrated local colored preacher and his
| last Sundays sermon: Bredren, announce
| nv tex, Who Is Ite l mex divide my tex
| inter two parasitic subjeck an the predicate.
who is the subjeck, an is it is the predi-
cate Now, if | jis' KEEP on a-sayin' my sub
| jock all cvenin Who, who, who, who e
| there'd be no sense in my remarks; an ef
should jis' a-keep on a-sayin my predicate all
evenin, Is it, is it, is it, is tF there'd be no
| sense in that remark; but eff l put the subjeck
| an the predicate together, an say Who Is
itP my meanin' is perfeckly clare" This
same parson tells US gravely that Moses lived
in the year "a Ammo Domini, and used to
| dominic ober the children OF Israeli but
that we couldn't dominic ober de two Jews
| in Tallahassee" Also he announced that
| there will be a meeting mex Tuesday even
| ing, by the will of God and a meetin' mex
Monday evenin' anyway"
| But there is better talk than this in ITALIA
hassee. There are grave old judges and gov.
| ernors, the colonies, and their charming,
| stately wives and daughters, and manly set
| of young men left to uphold the family names
| and honor And there are gloriesI besides
| those OF the past. Each morning fine old
| silver trays ere handed in" By smiling ne
groes laden with japonicas and violets and
| roses from the family gardens, gifts 10 the
| various guests Of the hotel-rnost frequently
| to the bellies
One of our northern friends confessed that
Tallahassee was so intimately connected in
her mind with the geography lessons OF her
| childhood and the list of state capitals that
she figured it as rustling little city, very red
| In brick, and smart with stone pavements and
| shops Imagine her surprise when she saw
| Tallahassee the realm this case the ideal as
well Long struggling streets, running up
| hill and down dale, red earth great live oaks
| lining the way: here and there open commons,
| everywhere views and high horizon lines;
| giimps Of Prince Murat's roof To the
west, Of the smoke TO the east: always
wherever you look, something Of beauty
! and interest The old houses have decayei
| dignity, most of them, though one or two
still stand in all their glory. Near the
hotel there is a colonial sort OF structure
with massive white pillars and carefully
| kept garden walks II recalls the Old Talla.
hassee days, for if was here that ore Of the
scions of an ancient race brought his bride
and the wedding feast Is still tradition in
this generation. / cannot tell you how many
four in hand coaches there were, nor bow
many guests, but they were entertained
horses, servants and al, and the host bad II
in his power TO give mount 10 every one
This reminds one of the tournaments thai
used TO he held in valley north Of here
where the hiIIsides would be black with spec
tators. There Is a grea. air Of romance abou,
the place. II has as much local feeling q
Sleepy Hollow, and Is a sort Of southern
fourth cousin 70 that dear spot. One doe
not wonder that writer feels il. and CHI
easily believe the report that Maurice ThOrnp
son wrote a Tallahassee Girl after only two
weeks of life here.
The most notable feature Of Tallahassee i
the ruin CT what once were great Old places
houses 80. in groves Of live osk md mag
nolias, falling into decay. only bits left Of ths
hedges and avenues.
You sac the same thing IA the faces II "a.
people-a far away look OF the obi faces, srsc
On the young, now and again. that rrs.les'
expression tina. always suggests christopbei
Columbus and the longing Tor new worlds q
my mini Bat tbey have eaten Il ttb'
lotos- Tbey 10 10. often break away afte.
al They put spurs - their horss instead
and ride hard ca. into The pine land; they ~
their teeth firmly, and, fortunately or unfor
tunatsIy, for the rsercifgl karsd of Fate
not always kind. they end by falling in low.
with some southern girl, with voice Iss theil
own and WAYS like thar own Thsn cosDsz q
moonlight night, another and another. Con
secat5ve moonlight nights are sASolu.sl,
fatal, On ire dit, and The town II fled VIII
talk u The Few engagement, then the ss2arrLss'
and Columbus SITES his soul for the sake a